A Moment of Quiet
by a pun or something
Summary: In the aftermath of Thessia, Councilor Tevos receives an unexpected visit. A short, sweet one-shot in which Shepard and Tevos are closer than anyone realized. Now being continued as a series of vignettes chronicling the unlikely relationship between the Asari Councilor, and the first human SpecTRe.
1. Chapter 1

The holographic overlay on the door changed to a muted green and Councilor Tevos crossed the threshold into her office, the static murmur of the embassy commons fading away as the door slid shut behind her. She tossed her data pad in the direction of a couch to her right, not looking or caring if she hit her mark.

The data pad bounced off creased leather and landed on the seat-cushion; requests, demands, and casualty reports still scrolling down the display.

She came to a stop at her desk and planted her hands on the cold ceramic, closing her eyes against the chill that snaked up her arms. She stood unmoving as the silence pressed in around her. A living statue. A monument to her own failures.

The door hissed open and shut behind her.

She lifted her head and opened her eyes, but didn't turn around.

More silence. She didn't blame him.

She sighed, and lowered her head again. "You shouldn't be here."

"I know."

She huffed, or maybe it was a sob. "You never did adhere to the Council's wishes."

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, and warmth blossomed from where his skin touched hers. "The Crucible's been completed..."

"Yes," she spoke softly. "I'd received word."

He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "We've found the Illusive Man... I'm going there now to bring back the Catalyst."

She shook her head, and deflated under his touch. "Why didn't I believe you sooner?" Her fingers curled into fists on the desk. "Why did my people have to pay the price?"

Her voice cracked and his grip on her shoulder faltered, slowly falling away.

She didn't know how much time passed before a hollow whisper broke the silence.

"I'm sorry."

He turned, and his footfalls retreated toward the door.

_No!_

She squeezed her eyes shut against the well of tears threatening to spill down her cheeks, forcing them back behind the mask of calm that had become her defense against the galaxy.

She would _not_ let their goodbye end on this note.

"Commander," she said.

His footsteps paused in their stride.

She drew in a deep, shaky breath, and turned her head toward him just enough to keep her face hidden.

"Thank you..." she said. "For everything."

His footsteps remained silent for a moment, and then started for the door again.

"John," she said.

He froze once more.

She gathered herself, and turned around to face him for the first time.

Angry, red veins marred the whites of his eyes. Deep shadows bruised the skin underneath them. But what struck her the most, was the sadness contained within them.

She looked into those eyes—once bright blue, now faded to a dull grey—and softened her expression.

"Stay safe."

He stared back at her, and the faintest of smiles played on his lips. He gave her a single nod, and disappeared through the door, walking the now-familiar path from her office to the Alliance docks.

As she watched him go, the stone tied around her heart still remained, but now seemed just a little lighter. The future was uncertain. For the galaxy, and for them. But she knew without a shadow of a doubt that John would fight to the end to make sure they had a future.

And so would she.

"Give them hell, John."

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Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you very much for the kind review, and also to everyone who followed and favorited. :)

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Councilor Tevos marched through the dimly-lit corridor, her huntress guard struggling to keep up behind her. People in lab coats jumped aside or were _encouraged_ to find a better place to stand than in her path. At the end of the corridor, two turians flanked an unassuming door, assault rifles clutched in their talons.

She spared them no glance and gave no courtesy of slowing down as she closed the distance between them.

A three fingered, armored hand stretched toward her. "I'm sorry, Ma'am, but you can't—"

She brushed passed them, the door hissing open.

"Ma'am!"

Their protests faded into the background as she marched into the room.

The stench of antiseptic burned her nose. Holographic displays pierced the darkness like beacons in the night. A commando stood in the glow of the displays, eyes wide in surprise.

In the center of the room, a limp form lay on the bed, tubes running from every limb.

She stopped in her tracks, her lips parting. _John._

The commando took a step toward her. "Councilor... This—"

"Leave us." She kept her eyes on the limp form in front of her.

"I'm under orders not to—"

She leveled an icy stare at the young maiden.

"...Yes, Ma'am." The commando ducked her head, and scurried out the door.

"Alara," Tevos said. "No one enters this room."

Her huntress guard nodded and stepped out, the door sighing shut behind her.

She didn't remember walking, but she found herself standing next to the bed, her eyes taking in every detail of the man before her.

His chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. Red lines criss-crossed his face. Purple bruises blotched ashen skin like pools of ink.

_Oh, John..._ She traced a jagged cut in his cheek, the ridges passing under her touch like braille. Each line on his body was a story. Some he had told her. Most he hadn't.

She wanted to hear all of them.

A drop of liquid splashed against her hand, and she flinched, staring down at the droplet. She didn't know when her vision became blurry.

John's eyes fluttered, an almost inaudible moan humming in his throat.

Her hand was on his in an instant, and she lowered her lips to his ear. "John," she said softly. "John, can you hear me?"

He remained still.

She rubbed a circle in his hand with her thumb. "I'm here, John. You did it. It's over."

The monitor next to the bed continued beeping steadily.

She gently pressed her lips to his temple. "You will not die, John. That's an order. My job would become much too boring without an upstart human SpecTRe keeping me on my toes."

Muffled voices rose outside.

She grit her teeth, and placed one more lingering kiss. "Be strong, John."

She pulled herself away from him and sniffed, running a finger over her eyelids. She would not wait for them to come to her.

She squared her shoulders and walked to the door, the metal barrier retreating at her approach.

Alara stood in the threshold between her and a small group of guards, including the two turians from before, waves of blue fire rippling across her body.

"Come, Alara." She calmly walked passed them. "If we are not welcome here, then we will leave."

Alara fell in behind her, biotics still flaring, and they left the way they came—leaving a group of dumbfounded guards behind them.

She brought up her omnitool, and punched few holographic buttons. "Reena, get me Matriarch Lidanya."

OOO

_One month later._

Tevos sat at her desk, rubbing her temples with one hand and tapping a finger on her mug of hot tea with the other.

"...Oh, and the Salarian Union wants your response by tonight," her assistant finished.

She took a sip of her tea. Sometimes she really wished salarians lived longer lives. "Thank you, Reena."

"Of course." The girl disappeared out the door, leaving blessed silence in her wake.

She set the tea down on the desk and closed her eyes, exhaling deeply. The last six months had felt like two centuries, and she was feeling every year of it.

The door hissed open again.

She bit back a curse. "What is it now, Reena?"

"Just repaying a visit."

Her head shot up.

John stood in the doorway, his arm resting in a sling, and a playful smile on his lips. "You know you're the talk of the Citadel? When I woke up, the first thing the doctors wanted to know after checking my vitals was why the Asari Councilor tore a path of destruction through their staff just to see me—and why a team of huntresses showed up the next day and took over security of the wing."

She bit the inside of her cheek. "You're an important figure, Commander. We can't afford to leave anything to chance."

He crossed his arms as much as he was able with the sling. "Uh-huh."

She rose from her seat, and closed the distance between them. "Like it or not, Commander, you've made some very powerful enemies over the years." She reached up and traced one of the red lines now faded to a light pink. "Fortunately, you've also made some very powerful friends."

"Is that why two huntresses followed me over here?"

She gazed into his eyes. "Nothing to chance, Commander." Her fingers wrapped around the back of his neck, and she pulled him down, pressing her lips against his.

She didn't know how they would make a relationship between them work, or if it would even last. But in this moment, she knew one thing with absolute certainty:

The Salarians could wait.


	3. Chapter 3

Councilor Riya Tevos absently tapped her stylus against the indigo display of her data pad as the calm, practiced voices of the assembled Matriarchy morphed into an indistinct droning that mumbled at the edge of her awareness. Meetings such as these were a necessary evil, of course. Especially in their current state of trying to rebuild the ravaged pile of debris that had become their galaxy.

She just wished the matriarchs didn't speak so slowly.

"...Finally, the Alliance wants to negotiate new trade agreements."

She perked up, refocusing her attention on the meeting.

"The terms of their proposal are balanced enough to be called fair," Matriarch Korva said. "But in typical human fashion, the agreement as it stands would benefit them more than us."

Matriarch Korva. Ten generations of turian military fathers, and she showed every generation of it.

"I've read the proposal, Matriarch," Tevos said. "I believe, in light of recent events, the terms _are_ fair. The Alliance contributed more to the war effort than any other race, and bore the brunt of the reapers' forces while we tried in vain to secure our own borders." She turned to the other matriarchs. "They have more to rebuild than we do, and without their support, all of us would have fallen. I believe that's worth a favorable trade agreement."

Matriarch Korva huffed. "It's not a surprise that _you_ would bend to the humans, Councilor."

Tevos blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I understand completely, of course. If I was screwing Commander Shepard, _I'd_ be more inclined to side with the humans, as well."

Tevos' lips parted, and she looked at the other matriarchs. Some appeared to agree with Korva. The others wouldn't meet her gaze.

"The Councilor's proclivities aside," Korva continued. "I'm not going to roll over and let the Alliance dictate terms to us."...

The voices of the matriarchs faded once more into a distant droning, and Tevos didn't listen anymore, instead staring at Korva with mouth agape. She knew that not all would approve when her relationship with John came to light, but was _this_ the kind of response she could expect from those who disapproved? Backhanded dismissal and implications that she had somehow been compromised?

Her mouth pulled into a thin line, and she bit her tongue before she could say something to the matriarch that would come back to haunt her later.

Surely, no wise statements could result from the heat rising through her belly.

OOO

An hour later, she found herself in front of a familiar door in the Silversun Strip. This was most likely a mistake, but she needed to speak to a friendly face. Her retreat to her office, and subsequent attempt to bury herself in work, had done nothing to quell the anger that had been slowly growing since meeting with the matriarchs.

And it seemed his was the only friendly face she had in her life right now.

The door opened, and John stood before her, wiping his hands on an oil-stained rag. "Riya." He blinked. "I thought you had a meeting."

She buried the tightness pulling at her lips, and instead, gave him a tired half-smile. "So did I."

"It got canceled?"

She glanced behind her toward a small group of people that had stopped and begun whispering among themselves, occasionally pointing between her and John. "May I come in, please?"

"Oh! Of course. Sorry." He led her inside, and the door sliding shut behind them was the best sound she ever heard. "Can I get you something?"

"Anything with alcohol."

He paused in his stride, the edge of his gaze meeting hers, but he hung the rag over a piece of railing and disappeared into the kitchen wordlessly.

She found a couch in the den facing a massive, floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the flashing lights of the strip, and she lowered herself into the creased leather, absently tapping a finger against her thigh as she watched the ebbing crowds through the glass.

Was it really such a conflict of interest? Was _he_ such a source of controversy? Councilors had been in relationships with members of another group before. It was discouraged, yes, but not forbidden. And did those councilors not fulfill their duty without compromise? Were _those_ councilors told in no uncertain terms that their input was no longer valid?

Her brow lowered.

"Here." John's soft voice broke her out of her thoughts. He held a glass toward her, and seated himself next to her.

"Thank you." She accepted the glass and took a sip, returning her gaze to the crowds below, tracing her finger around the rim of the glass as she held it in her lap.

He looked at her. "So, what happened?"

She shook her head, more to herself than him. "I'm no stranger to having enemies. It comes with a career in politics. I just... never expected the response to be so negative."

He studied her for a few long moments, and then breathed out quietly, looking away. "Do you remember what I told you in your office the first time we met privately—When you asked me to tell you everything I knew about the reapers? Everything the other councilors didn't want to hear?"

"You told me a lot of things, John."

"After I laid out everything, you said you couldn't publicly support me because of the backlash it would cause. And I said..."

A slight smile touched her lips. "'If you suddenly find yourself with a lot of enemies, you're probably doing something right.'"

He nodded. "We knew going into this that it wasn't going to be easy. But being with you is worth it to me. And if being with me is worth it to you, then I'll be right there with you to face down every matriarch on the Citadel if we have to."

She breathed out a quiet laugh. "I've seen the aftermath of you facing someone down, John. I don't think bludgeoning our way through the Matriarchy would help us."

"You never know."

She shook her head, but the smile didn't leave her face.

He reached across the small space between them and took her hand in his, brushing his thumb over her knuckles. "So what do you say, Madam Councilor? Do we give up? Or do we fight?"

She bit the inside of her cheek. "I don't know, John." She tilted her head back slightly, and locked her gaze onto his. "Do you really want to follow up a war with another war?"

"If it's something worth fighting for."

She bit her cheek harder, and laced their fingers together, studying the callouses on his hand. "Something worth fighting for..."

A century ago, she would have never even considered defying the matriarchs.

John's thumb rubbed a circle in her hand, and the corner of her mouth lifted. Of course, a century ago, she hadn't had anything worth standing up for.

She looked into his eyes, and the words left her mouth before she could consider them. "We fight, John."

She surprised herself just as much as she surprised him. But as the words hung in the air between them, she knew they were the truth. And perhaps most surprisingly, she knew she meant them.

His cheeks pulled back in a grin as she held his gaze, and he leaned down, capturing her waiting lips in a gentle kiss that sent tingles racing down her body.

She wanted to tell him how much he had come to mean to her. She wanted to tell him what she felt for him. Instead, she just wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back harder.

He seemed to get the message.

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Thanks for reading!


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